Tag: Sirika

A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) heard yesterday that a firm linked to Jalal Sule Hamma – the son-in-law of former Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika – was paid 100 per cent of the contracts sum before the execution of the contracts awarded on the Katsina Airport.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting Sirika for, among others, allegedly facilitating the award of contracts to a company – Al Buraq Global Investment Limited – in which his daughter, Fatima Hadi Sirika, and son-in-law, Jalal Sule Hamma, have interests.

A former Director of Procurement in the Ministry of Aviation, Musa Odiniyan, stated this when he resumed his testimony as the fifth prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of Sirika, Fatima, Jalal and Al Buraq Global on a six-count charge bordering on corrupt practices.

The prosecution alleged, among others, that Sirika used his “position to confer unfair advantage upon Al Buraq Global Investment Limited, whose alter egos, Fatima Hadi Sirika and Jalal Sule Hamma, are your daughter and son-in-law, respectively, by using your position to influence the award to them, the contract for the Apron Extension at Katsina Airport for the sum of N1,498,300,750”.

Fatima is said to be a staff member of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), while Jalal Sule Hamma is described as an employee of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

The lawyer to Sirika and Al Buraq, Michael Numa (SAN), yesterday cross-examined Odiniyan.

The witness told the court that the firm belonging to Sirika’s son-in-law was paid 100 per cent fee for the project in the belief that it would be inaugurated before former President Muhammadu Buhari left office.

Odiniyan said: “The time of issuing the contract letter to the company (Al Buraq) was at the twilight of the Buhari administration. That was why the contract has a period of six months.

“I learnt that both former President Buhari and the first defendant (Sirika) are from Katsina State.

“The reason for the prompt payment (for the contract) was for it to be completed and inaugurated before the exit of the Buhari administration and not for the purpose of variation.”

The witness also told the court that the Ministerial Tenders Board (MTB) of the Aviation ministry considered the Katsina airport terminal building and the apron projects (which were the two contracts awarded to Al Buraq) as critical.

He was explained that such projects were considered as safety projects by the ministry.

According to him, Al Buraq may not have qualified to be awarded contracts by the ministry since the ministry had a number of criteria for companies to qualify for the award of contracts.

Odiniyan said the then ministry’s Permanent Secretary gave him a document on which he claimed Sirika wrote something on (in red biro).

He said based on this, he (the witness) prepared the letter of award of contract to the company.

The witness claimed that although Al Buraq funded the bond for the project, it was allegedly varied by the Director, Legal in the ministry.

He added told the court that he had retired before the delivery period for the contracts, adding that he could not confirm if the ministry sued any company for a breach of contracts.

During the cross-examination by lawyer to the second defendant, Efut Okoi, the witness said Sirika was neither a member of the ministry’s tenders’ board nor its procurement unit, but the chief executive officer of the ministry.

Read Also: Alleged N2.8b fraud: Sirika approved contract for son-in-law’s firm, witness tells court

Odiniyan said as a director in the ministry, he did not have direct access to the minister, stressing that his relation was with the permanent secretary of the ministry.

The witness also told the court that he did not receive any memorandum from Sirika but from the permanent secretary who told him (Odiniyan) that it was from the minister.

Commenting on whether or not he confirmed from the minister if the memorandum was truly from him (Sirika), Odiniyan said: “We were guided by the Procurement Act and civil service rules. By civil service rules, I did not confirm from the minister if the memorandum was from him.”

He explained that it was not the practice in the civil service setup for a director to bypass his permanent secretary to meet the minister.

The witness further told the court that Al Buraq was invited for the project as a result the permanent secretary’s directive.

Odiniyan added that the permanent secretary was the chairman of the ministerial tenders’ board of the ministry.

Justice Sylva Oriji adjourned till February 10 for the continuation of trial.

A HIgh Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Maitama heard on Thursday that the immediate past Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika approved the award of contracts to a company – Al Buraq Global Investment Limited – in which his daughter, Fatima Hadi Sirika and son-in-law, 

Jalal Sule Hamma have interests.

A former Director, Procurement at  Ministry of Aviation, Musa Odiniyan said this while testifying on Thursday as the fifth prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of Sirika, Fatima, Jalal and Al Buraq Global on a six-count charge bordering on corrupt practices.

In the charge, the prosecution alleged among others, that Sirika used his “position to confer unfair advantage upon Al Buraq Global Investment Limited, whose alter ego, Fatima Hadi Sirika and Jalal Sule Hamma, are your daughter and son-in-law, respectively, by using your position to influence the award to them, the contract for the Apron Extension at Katsina Airport for the sum of N1,498,300,750.”

Fatima is said to be a staff of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd, while Jalal Sule Hamma is described as an employee of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.

On Thursday, Odiniyan, while being cross-examined by Sirika’s lawyer, Michael Numa (SAN), insisted that for a contract to be executed, the minister must approve.

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“The minister is the final approving authority for the award of contract. The minister has to approve the decision of the Ministerial Tender Board for the award of contract before the contract is implemented,” he said.

When asked about the role of the minister in the award of contract, the witness said the minister gives the final approval before the implementation of the contracts approved by the Ministerial Tenders Board (MTB).

Odiniyan, who was the Secretary of the MTB of the Aviation Ministry when the contracts in issue were awarded, said he issued the letters of award to the contractors after Sirika gave the final approval.

He said: “The role of the minister includes that, before the award of contract, the minister must approve before you issue the letter of award.

“For the letter of award to be issued, it is the minister that does the final approval.

“There were some projects that the minister did not approve and  letters of award were not issued and they were not implemented.

“The minister gives the final approval of the award of contracts.

The ones he did not approve, we did not proceed to issue letters of award and the projects were not executed. 

“Without approval, you cannot implement. There cannot be implementation without approval.

“The minister actually approved for implementation of the approval of the MTB,” the witness said.

Odiniyan, who said he retired from the Aviation Ministry about two years ago, told the court that he could no remember off hand all what transpired in respect of the contracts in issue, when pressed by Numa to give minute details.

He gave details about the process leading to to award of contract in the civil service and under the Public Procurement Act.

When asked why he issued letters of award to the contractors in respect of the projects in issue, the witness said, as the Secretary of the MTB, his issuance of the letters of award was pursuant to the approval of the Minister.

Numa, in the course of proceedings, tendered some statements made to the EFCC by the witness and a record of proceedings in another criminal case involving Sirika and his brother, Ahmad Sirika before Justice Suleiman Belgore (also of the HIgh Court of the FCT) in his (Numa’s) effort to contradict the witness on his evidence on Sirika’s role the award of the contracts in question.

At a point Justice Sylvanus Oriji decided to adjourn further proceedings till January 27.

Sirika, Fatima and Hamma are, in the charge marked: FCT/HC/CR/348/2024, accused of committing the following offences:

*Alleged consultancy contract fraud for Nigerian Air (N1,326,731,670.97)

• Alleged corruption related to the contract for Apron Extension at Katsina Airport (N1,498,300,750.00 ); and

• Alleged gratification (N1,310,142,051.16)

The EFCC the said fraudulent acts were committed by the suspects between April 2022 and March 2023.

It added that all the offences are contrary to Sections 12 and 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000, to Section 17 (b) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004  and Section 315 of the Penal Code Act, Cap 532 Acts of the Federal Capital Territory and  punishable under the same sections

Counts in the charge reads: 

* That you, Hadi Abubakar Sirika, while being the Minister of Aviation between April 2022 and March 2023, in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did use your position to confer unfair  advantage upon Tianaero Nigeria Limited, whose alter ego Prof. Gabriel Tilmann, is your Associate by using your position to influence the award to them, the consultancy contract for the Nigerian Air Start-up and extension of same for the sum of N1,326,731,670.97 and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000 and punishable under the same section.

*That you, Hadi Abubakar Sirika, while being the Minister of Aviation on or about 16th August 2022 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did use your position to confer unfair advantage upon Al Buraq Global Investment Limited  whose alter ego Fatima Hadi Sirika and Jalal Sule Hamma are your daughter and son-in-law respectively by using your position to influence the award to them, the contract for the Apron Extension at Katsina Airport, for the sum of N1,498,300,750.00  and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000 and punishable under the same section.

*That you, Hadi Abubakar Sirika, while being the Minister of Aviation and in such capacity as a public officer on or about 18th August, 2022 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of the Honourable Court entrusted with certain property to wit the sum of N1,498,300,750.00 committed criminal breach of trust in respect of the said property by being dishonestly connected with the illegal award of contract for the Apron Extension at Katsina Airport, to and for the benefit of  Al Buraq Global Investment Limited  whose alter ego  are Fatima Hadi Sirika and Jalal Sule Hamma, your daughter and son-in-law respectively and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 315 of the Penal Code Act, Cap 532 Acts of the Federal Capital Territory and punishable under the same section.

*That you, Hadi Abubakar Sirika, while being the Minister of Aviation, Fatima Hadi Sirika while being a public servant and an employee of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd and Jalal Sule Hamma  while being a public servant and an employee of Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission on or about 18th August 2022 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did knowingly hold indirectly private interests in the contract for the Apron Extension at Katsina Airport for the sum of N1,498,300,750 00 awarded to Al Buraq Global Investment Limited  whose alter ego  are Fatima Hadi Sirika and Jalal Sule Hamma which contract was awarded on account of public service and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 12 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000 and punishable under the same section. 

*That you, Fatima Hadi Sirika, Jalal Sule Hamma and Al Buraq Global Investment Limited – between 2022 and 2023 in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court had possession of an aggregate sum of N1,310,142,051.16  which sum you knew indirectly represented the proceeds of criminal conducts of Hadi Abubakar Sirika who was the minister of Aviation at the time (to wit use of office or position for gratification in respect of the said amount), and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 17 (b) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004 and punishable under the same section.

*That you, Hadi Abubakar Sirika, while being the minister of Aviation and in such capacity as a public officer between April 2022 and March 2023 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of the Honourable Court entrusted with certain property to wit, the sum of N1,326,731,470.97 committed criminal breach of trust in respect of the said property by being dishonestly connected with the illegal award of the Consultancy contract for the Nigerian Air Start-up and extension of same to and for the benefit of Tianaero Nigeria Limited whose alter ego Prof. Gabriel Tilmann, your Associate and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 315 of the Penal Code Act. Cap 532 Acts of the Federal Capital Territory and punishable under the same section.

…says contract split to avoid threshold

A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Maitama heard on Tuesday, July 2, that a firm linked to the son-in-law and daughter of ex-minister of aviation, Hadi Sirika was not approved for the N2.7billion contract for terminal building and an expansion project at the Katsina airport.

The Director of Certification, Compliance, and Monitoring at the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Isaiah Ganiyu Yesufu told the court that Al Buraq Global Investment Limited, the firm in which Sirika’s son-in-law, Jalal Sule Hamma and the ex-minister’s daughter, Fatima are directors was not one of the five companies approved for the Katsina airport project.

He said the Aviation Ministry’s letters to the BPP for approval, categorized the terminal building and apron expansion at the Katsina airport as a single project and that the approval given by the BPP for the due process no objection was given for the project as a single one.

The witness said he was surprised to learn when he was invited to the EFCC’s office, that the Katsina airport project was split into two by the Aviation Ministry and awarded to two companies, including Al Buraq Global was not part of the companies listed and approved to bid for the project.

Yesufu spoke while testifying as the prosecution’s fourth witness (PW4) in the trial of Sirika, Fatima (his daughter), Jalal Hamma (his son-in-law), and Al Buraq Global Investment Limited on a six-count charge brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

In the charge, the EFCC accused Sirika of conferring undue advantage, between April 2022 and March 2023 in Abuja, on some entities allegedly owned by his associates.

The EFCC alleged that Sirika used his “position to confer an unfair advantage upon Al Buraq Global Investment Limited, whose alter ego, Fatima Hadi Sirika and Jalal Sule Hamma, are your daughter and son-in-law, respectively, by using your position to influence the award to them, the contract for the Apron Extension at Katsina Airport for the sum of N1,498,300,750.”

Fatima is said to be a staff of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd, while Jalal Hamma is described as an employee of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.

Led in evidence by prosecuting lawyer, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), Yesufu told the court that sometime in May 2022, the Federal Ministry of Aviation wrote to the BPP for approval for a “due process no-objection” to enable it to adopt a selective procurement method, which will not require it to advertise for bids, in view of the urgency of the project.

Yesufu said in the two letters from the Aviation Ministry, dated May 16 and 17, 2022, the Ministry listed five companies who were to bid for the project.

He said, in his agency’s approval, which was communicated via a letter dated, June 6, 2022, the five companies identified did not include Al Buraq Global Investment Limited.

The said: “Item 13 (in one of the Aviation Ministry’s letters) relates to the terminal building and apron expansion project at Katsina airport. It is a single project.

The budgetary provision that is indicated here is 800m.

The companies to participate in this procurement at Katsina airport project are the five companies that were listed here,” he said and proceeded to identify them.

Yesufu added: “Al Buraq Global Limited was not listed as one of the companies to bid for the project.

“The approval (by the BPP) did not include Al Buraq. It (Al Buraq) was not approved to participate in this particular project.

“The no objection granted with these five companies implies that the bidding is limited to only these five companies.”

The witness said the Aviation Ministry was required to do its due diligence, by investigating the companies listed to ascertain their capacity, competence, and record of performance.

“The due diligence they (officials of the Aviation Ministry) are supposed to conduct was also to find out the names of directors of the companies to be sure that there is nothing wrong with them.

“On the contract for the terminal building and apron expansion at Katsina airport, after we issued our due process no objection, they (officials of the Aviation Ministry) did not refer to us again.

“When we were invited by the EFCC, we found out that the project (the terminal building and apron expansion project at Katsina airport) has been split into two.

“The terminal building was awarded to one company, while apron expansion was awarded to another company.”

Yesufu said the cost of the project was not known to the BPP at the time of issuing its approval but found out from the EFCC that after the contract was split into two, one was awarded at about N1.4billion, with the other was awarded at N1.3b, which cost did not require the Ministry to revert to the BPP.

He added that if the project was left as one and not split, and had executed it as was approved, the cost would have been about N2.7b and the Ministry would have been required to go before the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for approval.

Read Also: Alleged N2.8b fraud: ‘Contract awarded to Sirika’s in-law, firm not executed’

The witness added: “By splitting the project and awarding them at the ministerial tenders’ board level, they (those at the Aviation Ministry) have evaded the threshold that has been set.

“By splitting the project, they did not allow the project to go through the procedure it ought to go through as provided in the Public Procurement Act.

“The budget estimation that was presented to us from the Ministry was N800m for the single project and that was what we approved due process no objection for,” Yesufu said.

At that point, Jacobs told the court that he was done with the witness, following which Justice Sylvanus Oriji adjourned till July 5 for cross-examination of the witness by the defence.

• Ex-Procurement Director testifies against former Aviation minister, others

A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Maitama yesterday heard that the N1.4 billion Apron Extension contract at the Katsina Airport awarded to a firm linked to the son in-law of former Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika was not executed as at May last year.

A former Director of Procurement in the Federal Ministry of Aviation, Azubuike Okorie, who testified before the court, said the firm, Al Buraq Global Investment Limited, was one of the companies to which the contracts at the Kastina Airport were awarded.

Okorie said he was the Special Assistant to the Aviation Minister on Projects between 2022 and 2023 and was also the Chairman of the Project Implementation Committee which was responsible for monitoring and evaluating projects to ensure proper execution.

The witness said when his committee visited the Katsina Airport for projects monitoring and evaluation, Al Buraq and other contractors were not on the ground.

Okorie was testifying as the prosecution’s first witness (PW1) in the trial of Sirika, his daughter, Fatima, his son-in-law, Jalal Sule Hamma, and Al Buraq Global Investment Limited on a six-count charge brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Read Also: FG, States, LGs share N1.143tr for May 2024

In the charge, the EFCC accused Sirika of conferring undue advantage, between April 2022 and March 2023 in Abuja, on some entities allegedly owned by his associates.

The EFCC alleged that Sirika abused his office by awarding N1.3 billion consultancy contract for the Nigerian Air start-up to a firm, Tianero Nigeria Limited.

It alleged that Sirika used his “position to confer unfair advantage upon Al Buraq Global Investment Limited, whose alter ego, Fatima Hadi Sirika, and Jalal Sule Hamma, are your daughter and son-in-law, respectively, by using your position to influence the award to them the contract for the Apron Extension at Katsina Airport for the sum of N1,498,300,750”.

Fatima is said to be a staff member of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) while Jalal Sule Hamma is described as an employee of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Maitama heard on Monday, June 10, that the N1.4 billion Apron Extension contract at the Katsina Airport allegedly awarded to a firm linked with the son-in-law of former Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika was not executed as of May last year.

A former director of procurement in the Federal Ministry of Aviation, Azubuike Okorie told the court that the firm, Al Buraq Global Investment Limited was one of the companies to which the contracts at the Kastina Airport were awarded.

Okorie said he was the special assistant to the aviation minister on projects between 2022 and 2023 and was also the Chairman of the Project Implementation Committee.

He said his committee was responsible for monitoring and evaluating projects to ensure execution.

Okorie said when his committee visited the Katsina Airport for project monitoring and evaluation, Al Buraq and other contractors were not on the ground.

He said: “When we got there (Kastina Airport), we had a list of other contractors, who were supposed to be on the ground, including Al-Buraq.

“My lord, we did not find any of them on site then,” Okorie said, adding that as when he left the civil service on May 23, 2023 “the contract was not executed, to the best of my knowledge.”

Okorie spoke while testifying as the prosecution’s first witness (PW1) in the trial of Sirika, his daughter, Fatima his son-in-law, Jalal Sule Hamma and Al Buraq Global Investment Limited on a six-count charge brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

In the charge, the EFCC accused Sirika of conferring undue advantage, between April 2022 and March 2023 in Abuja, on some entities allegedly owned by his associates.

Read Also: Alleged N2.8bn fraud: EFCC opens case against Sirika, others

EFCC alleged that Sirika abused his office by awarding N1.3 billion consultancy contract for the Nigerian Air start-up to a firm, Tianero Nigeria Limited.

It alleged that Sirika used his “position to confer an unfair advantage upon Al Buraq Global Investment Limited, whose alter ego, Fatima Hadi Sirika and Jalal Sule Hamma, are your daughter and son-in-law, respectively, by using your position to influence the award to them, the contract for the Apron Extension at Katsina Airport for the sum of N1,498,300,750.”

Fatima is said to be a staff of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd, while Jalal Sule Hamma is described as an employee of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.

Okorie, who was led in evidence by prosecuting lawyer, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), said it was the practice that before a contract is awarded, the user agency – in this case, the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) – would have first secured the land on which the project would be sited by obtaining the required documents, including a certificate of occupancy (C of O).

He said when his committee members met with the Katsina state commissioner for lands, they were informed that no land was secured for the projects at that time because of the conflict between the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) and the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria.

The witness added that since no land was secured as of when his committee members visited, the contractors could not go to the site.

When asked if he was aware that Al-Buraq was paid 100 percent for the contract, the witness said he could not confirm what was paid.

Okorie, who was a subpoenaed witness, said he was only aware of the 30 percent mobilization fee paid to every contractor at the commencement of a project.

He added: “As Chairman of the project Implementation Committee, I was not involved in payments.

“Payments are made in stages until a contractor finishes the contract.”

After his testimony-in-chief, lawyers to the defendants – Kanu Agabi (SAN), Mahmud Magaji (SAN), and Michael Numa (SAN) – applied for an adjournment to enable them to return for the cross-examination of the witness.

Jacobs did not object, following which Justice Sylvanus Oriji adjourned till June 11.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday in a Federal Capital Territory (FCT), High Court , Maitama opened its case of alleged N2.6 billion fraud against former Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika and three others.

The EFCC dragged Sirika alongside his daughter, Fatima; Jalal Sule Hamma and Al-Duraq Investment Limited, for abuse of office and contract fraud.

They are standing trial before Justice Sylvanus Oriji on a six counts.

At the hearing, Azubuike Okorie, a subpoenaed witness of the EFCC testified as the first witness, (PW1)

He said he was a retired staff of the Federal Ministry of Aviation, director, Procurement and Special Assistant to the Honorable Minister, Projects(2022-2023) and Chairman, Project Implementation Committee

When led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN the witness said as Special Assistant, he was responsible for monitoring and evaluating projects.

”The Project Implementation Committee ensures the execution of projects ”

When asked about what he knew about the contract to Al-Duraq Global Investment by Federal Ministry he said

”I was not involved in contracts and my committee is also not involved in awarding  contracts.

When asked to tell the court how he got exhibit tagged “List, 2021 Projects” he said

”These documents were the ones the then Minister asked me to send to the Permanent Secretary and I did that by making photocopies.

”Let me answer it this way, these documents were given to me, I was not there when he wrote on it but I will assume, it is the minister(Sirika) that wrote in red pen because only ministers write in red pen. ”

He said he saw N800 million against Al-Duraq Global Investment Limited and Apron Expansion and aware the contract was given to the above company.

He added that before a contract is awarded, the users agency, in this case, Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), would have secured the land.

“Well, the team of the Project Implementation Committee came in contact with Al-Duraq in Kastina when we went for project monitoring and implementation at Kastina airport.

“When we got there, because we had a list of other contractors who were supposed to be on ground including Al-Duraq, we did not find any of them on site then.”

The witness further said that as of the time he left civil service in May 23, 2023 to the best of his knowledge, the contract was not executed.

When asked if he was aware that 100 per cent payment was made to the fourth defendant before he left office?

He told the court that he is only aware of the 30 per cent mobilisation fee paid to them.

He added that as Chairman, Project Implementation Committee, he was not involved in payments.

”As a former director, what I know is that payments were made in stages,” he said

Jacobs told the court that, that was all for the witness.

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Chief Kanu Agabi, SAN counsel for Sirika (1st defendant) told the court that the was  just served with the papers today and needed time to go through it.

”I beg let’s come back tomorrow.”

Mahmoud Magaji, SAN for Fatima (2nd defendant) Michael Numa, SAN for Al-Duraq Investment allied with him.

The prosecution counsel, Jacobs did not object to their prayer.

Justice Oriji then adjourned until Tuesday for cross examination and continuation of trial.

(NAN)

The planned arraignment of former Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika; his brother, Ahmad Sirika; and a firm, Enginos Nigeria Limited, on a fresh eight-count charge has been postponed till May 23.

In the new charge, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) accused Sirika, his brother, and Enginos of a N10 billion airport contract fraud.

The postponement of the arraignment, earlier scheduled for yesterday at a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Garki, followed the absence of the defendants in court.

At the mention of the case, lawyer to the EFCC, Oluwaleke Atolagbe, told the court that although the matter was slated for arraignment, he noticed that the defendants were not in court.

When the judge, Justice Suleiman Belgore, asked why the defendants were absent, Atolagbe said he was informed by their lawyer that they reside outside Abuja.

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The lawyer said he learnt that the defendants, who were on EFCC’s administrative bail, had not been served with the charge and that they could not come into Abuja before yesterday.

He prayed the court for an adjournment to enable the prosecution serve the defendants with the charge.

The lawyer to the defendants, Olaniyi Anjorin, aligned with Atolagbe’s position, saying he was not objecting to the EFCC lawyer’s application for an adjournment.

Ruling, Justice Belgore adjourned till May 23 for arraignment.

Sirika; his daughter, Fatimat; his son-in-law, Jalal Hamma; and a firm, Al Buraq Global Investment Limited, were arraigned on May 9 before another judge of the High Court of the FCT in Maitama on a six-count charge bordering on corrupt practices.

One of the counts in the fresh charge, now before Justice Belgore, reads: “That you, Hadi Sirika, while being the Minister of Aviation, on or about August 18, 2022, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this court, did use your position to confer unfair advantage upon Enginos Nigeria Limited whose alter ego, Ahmad Sirika, is your biological brother, by using your position to influence the award to them the contract for the construction of a terminal building at Katsina Airport for N1.345 billion and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000, and punishable under the same section.”